Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Mercedes-Benz didn't want to install fire doors in their museum (it would look wrong with the architecture), so they created an indoor tornado to pull out the smoke in the case of a fire. It has been declared the world's largest artificial tornado.

IBM has developed a way to scrape circuits off silicon wafers with water (more eco-friendly than the chemicals or sand typically used) so they can be reused for solar. Recycled silicon will help with the global silicon shortage

DVRs for tonight:8pm Bones9pm House (I'm finally caught up so I can watch this) & Reaper

Monday, October 29, 2007

Cute story of a couple who spent their 60th anniversary at the same hotel they honeymooned at for $10 (paid by their 12-year-old grandson) instead of the current $1600 because of an offer for people returning after 50 years with their original receipts.

Two Canadian astronomers have said that they don't think dark matter exists, and they have an alternate theory for how gravity works that explains the observations that have been cited as evidence of dark matter.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Astronomers have identified hundreds of black holes that were masked by dusty galaxies billions of light years away.

The Senate has approved a 7-year extension to the internet tax ban, including wording that should protect email, IM & file storage that are not linked to an IP access account. The version approved by the House did not have that wording, so it still needs to go back and be approved there before it can be signed off, but they think they can get it done before the old ban expires next week.

NPR (online here) will be playing a 30-second scary story by Neil Gaiman tomorrow.

Cinemax (of all places) is planning a scifi movie-of-the-week series (which may become an actual series) about 5 aliens who crash to earth in 1863 and how they influence mankind's development.

Reaper just got an order for an additional 3 scripts. That means that either new scripts or a full season have been ordered for every new show I've watched except for Womens Murder Club and Big Shots. Although I find them somewhat entertaining (as long as Womens Murder Club doesn't try to call BART "the" subway again) they aren't my favorite new shows for the season, so I think the season is starting well. Knowing how networks work, I expected to have a new favorite killed after 3 weeks.

While trying to find out why the 3rd season dvd for Battlestar Galactica is being delayed until April 2008, it was discovered that the 4th season won't be starting in January or February like we expected. It will be starting in April, so the dvd timing is to link them together.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Bionic Woman now has a new show runner. The show runner for Friday Night Lights (who had also done Roswell) has been pulling double duty since Glen Morgan left. The new show runner is from The Sopranos, and I'm a bit concerned that it appears his only SF experience is one ep of Surface.

The Discovery Channel recently had a competition to explain string theory in a 2-minute video. Check out the "best".

Scientists have found evidence that Saturn's outer ring was formed by the destruction of a moon.

SciFi has ordered a pilot for Warehouse 13, which they describe as a cross between X-Files, Indiana Jones & Moonlighting. The actual description sounds more like a secret government version of The Librarian, but it could be fun. It was written by Rockne O'Bannon (Farscape) and has one of the producers from Battlestar Galactica.

A plant is being built in Massachusetts to make natural gas from biomass. Sounds like it will be cheaper to produce and better for the environment than traditional sources.

New technology gives us new privacy concerns to think about. As advances are made in digital photography, GPS data, and online mapping, photos can be tagged with data about their location. This is great if the photo is a real estate listing, not so great if you accidentally geotag photos from the party in your back yard. More on the issues here.

Lost has a habit of killing characters when the actors who play them get arrested. Let's hope that doesn't continue, because I'd hate to see Daniel Dae Kim leave the show even if he did make a stupid mistake.

They have found a correlation between leaded gas use and crime rates. The lead from gas was getting into the water and air, and once it was phased out for about 20 years (so there weren't still people in their teens and twenties who were raised with high lead), the crime rates drop. If the lead was prevalent enough to be causing notably different crime levels, I wonder what other problems it was causing.

Monday, October 22, 2007

JK Rowling revealed that she always thought of Dumbledore as gay. It makes sense. I like the comment that it gives Christian groups one more reason to dislike her books (which she sees as an argument for tolerance). There are probably a billion articles around by now, but the ones I read were at CNN & January Magazine.

The Space Elevator Games started this past weekend. Teams from around the world competing for $1 million in prizes for creating a super-strong tether or a robot that could climb a suspended ribbon at a certain rate. Sounds like the technology is getting close to making a space elevator possible. This Nature article talks about the competition, and the competition blog has details and videos on the progress.

2 teams of scientists have found ways that will change the course of hurricanes (and possibly slow them down). The US to warm from above and Israel to cool from below.

I see why we've been hearing more about hybrid & plug-in cars in the last few months. New regulations require that manufacturers increase their average mpg per product line from 25mpg to 35mpg by 2020. So they can either make trucks and SUVs more efficient or they can introduce more efficient cars to change their overall product line average. As much as I like seeing more efficient cars, I wish they would just work to make the stupid gas guzzlers more efficient.

The Hollywood WGA voted 90% in favor of authorizing a strike. Although the studios dropped their ridiculous request for no residuals until a profit is shown (which never happens in Hollywood), these sides are still miles apart with less than 2 weeks until the deadline. For those of us who hate "reality" shows, there isn't going to be much to watch soon.

2 recent science breakthroughs from North Carolina State University: Biofuels and Positron beams. They have developed a way to make jet fuel from any vegetable or animal fat (no petroleum products involved and it burns clean - a true green fuel), and they have produced the most powerful antimatter electron beam in the world.

UK researchers have turned stem cells from fat into nerve cells and plan to use a biodegradable polymer to place these cells where they can act as an artificial nerve and bridge the gap in damaged nerves for limbs and organs. Treatment could be ready in 4-5 years.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Fox has announced a premiere date for The Sarah Connor Chronicles (the Terminator spin-off that takes up after the 2nd movie and ignores the 3rd - just like I did). It will be 1-14-08. The bad news is that is a Monday. They are changing the timeslot to Mondays at 8pm - which is already crowded.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

More casting announced for "The Changeling", the script by JMS that will be produced by Ron Howard and directed by Clint Eastwood. Joining Angelina Jolie are Jeffrey Donovan (Burn Notice), John Malkovich, and several others I don't recognize by name.

The 3rd season premiere of Supernatural is on Amazon unbox as a free download. Assuming I ever catch up on season 2 episodes, this will be good.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Ian McKellen says he would be willing to play Gandalf again in The Hobbit.

Fox's legal department has canceled theatrical performances of the Buffy musical with virtually no notice. They didn't even explain why, but looking at the article it sounds like the theatrical airing of a TV show at a non-charity event doesn't have pre-set residuals and they wouldn't know what to pay to whom. It all sounds ridiculous anyway. Joss Whedon is apparently going to try to help.

They have developed a blood test for Alzheimer's disease. They are still testing, but it appears to be about 90% accurate and may be available in 2-3 years.

Nobel prize news:Al Gore (along with a UN panel) has won the peace prize.For the first time, a former Worldcon guest of honor (1987) has won the literature prize. Doris Lessing has apparently said that she didn't suppose this was for her earlier Science Fiction novels which people didn't consider proper 'literature', though she thought they were amongst her best work.

Sulu and Scotty have been cast for the new Star Trek movie. John Cho will be Sulu. I love John Cho, but I really don't see him as Sulu. This will either be weird or show a totally different side to his acting. Simon Pegg (Shaun in Shaun of the Dead) has been cast as Scotty. I was actually hoping that Paul McGillion (Dr. Beckett from Atlantis) would get the role, since I knew he was trying for it.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

DVRs for tonight:8pm My Name is Earl9pm CSI & Grey's Anatomy & Supernatural (one of these will have to be watched online)

Well, it isn't a full season pickup, but several shows got additional script orders today. Bionic Woman, Chuck, Life, and Journeyman will each get 3 additional scripts written before the writer's strike.

Seth Green will play a patient in 2 episodes of Grey's Anatomy this season.

It looks like our internet access will remain tax free for another 4 years.

Kevin Weisman (from Alias and Moonlight) will guest star in the 12th episode of Chuck as a villain.

The Dawn spacecraft is on its way to study asteroids and successfully tested it's new ion engine.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

DVRs for tonight:8pm Pushing Daisies9pm Bionic Woman & Private Practice (I really need to watch at least one of these)10pm CSI:NY & Life (I still haven't watched any but have been told I should)

Apparently Pixar is planning not just one John Carter of Mars movie but a trilogy.

Japan's lunar probe has jettisoned baby satellites and has started taking pictures and studying the moon.

Using GPS to predict the weather? By measuring the change to radio waves sent through the atmosphere between GPS-RO satellites, scientists can get a very accurate view of our atmosphere (temperature, humidity, denseness, weather, etc.). Not all GPS satellites are the -RO models, but they are planning to launch more.

Researchers are working on a computer user interface that changes in response to the stress, overload, or distraction level of the user. I'm not sure I want my computer knowing that much about me.

The new Star Trek film has cast it's villain (Eric Bana) and may have found a young Kirk (Chris Pine, assuming he doesn't choose to make the George Clooney movie instead).

Subaru has a new electric car prototype they will be showing off this month. The article worries that with Subaru and Nissan developing electric cars, the new startups may not survive. As long as the cars get made (and not shelved again), then I don't care who does it. Hopefully the startups (even if they die) stay around long enough so that the big players don't abandon the technology.

Bittorrent is offering its technology to other companies to make their video streaming and downloading more affordable.

Denvention (the Denver Worldcon next year) is planning to have a Critter Crunch event, the original robot battle competition created by the Denver Area Mad Scientists. They are starting to pull together details for the convention. It should be fun. Anyone who wants to join should do so before Progress Report 2 in January, because that will have the Hugo nomination ballot and hotel reservation information.

George Harrison's solo work is now available from iTunes. This was the last holdout, so now all their songs are available. The Beatles' songs are still being remastered and should appear by early next year.

Scientists have designed a mostly self-sufficient space habitat. This could (far too many years from now) allow for a station on the moon or Mars that doesn't require so many costly re-supply missions. The technology will also help with sustainable farming and recycling applications here on Earth. Cool.

Check out the Nissan electric concept car. It has 3 wheels and a rotating cabin, so you can turn around and start driving at a 90 degree angle from where you were looking. It is funny looking, yet cute in a strange (my designers probably spent too much time looking at Hello Kitty) sort of way.

CNet has a slideshow today of Home Appliances of the Future (from a Japanese technology center that demos everything from the really weird to the somewhat cool).

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Scientists believe they have found the cause of type 2 Diabetes: an enzyme that blocks insulin production. There is now hope for a treatment that restores proper function to the pancreas, not just proper levels of insulin to the body.

By layering plastic polymers and nanosheets in a style similar to mother-of-pearl shells, they have made a transparent plastic that is as strong as steel. They wanted to call it plastic steel (but it doesn't have the stretchiness that would imply), but I want to call it Transparent Aluminum.

Friday, October 5, 2007

DVR for tonight:5pm Doctor Who6pm Flash Gordon - I need to decide if I'm ever going to watch this before it fills my DVR7pm Stargate Atlantis8pm Ghost Whisperer9pm Moonlight - I actually thought the first ep was amusing, so I'm giving it another chance10pm Numb3rs

There are rumors that there may be a direct-to-dvd Serenity 2 because the dvd is selling out.

Jericho has shot an alternate ending for its 2nd season finale in case there is no 3rd season.

Geologists, including a Stanford professor, have extracted samples from a 2.5 mile borehole dug in the San Andreas fault (and put in sensors). For the first time, they are going to study how the fault works, understanding the actual rock content from an active fault.

A new race to the moon is on. Japan's satellite reached orbit today. China and India will be following soon. (I expected to see some action after the prize for a moon landing was announced, but I'm pretty sure that specified private industry, so I'm surprised to see so many government sponsored projects.)

Kyle XY has been renewed for a 10-episode 3rd season. (2nd season is 20 episodes, so I'm not sure if this is a decision to have a shorter season or a preliminary order with more to be determined later.)

They think they've found the purpose of the appendix, and it can be replaced by yogurt. The appendix apparently stores good bacteria to help your system reboot after disease.

Thursday, October 4, 2007

DVRs for tonight:8pm My Name is Earl (NBC)9pm CSI (CBS), Grey's Anatomy (ABC), or Supernatural (CW) - One will have to be a download.10pm Big Shots (ABC) - Pilot was better than expected, so I'm giving it another chance.

GrubHub is a new service in the SF area that shows all restaurants that deliver in your area (you give address, they list restaurants, show menus, reviews, etc.). You can even narrow results to "deliver now" which is useful when you're craving Chinese during a weekend afternoon and the 1st 3 restaurants you call don't deliver until evening (do I sound bitter?). Looking at my address, I find that Hometown Noodle delivers. Who knew? The article where I found out about it is here.

Rant warning: Copyright issues have gotten completely ridiculous. (As a disclaimer: I will never be the focus of their concern because I don't care that much about music. Most of the music I listen to is on the radio in my car, on a satellite channel from DishNetwork, or on Launchcast from Yahoo. I haven't even played a CD in over a year and I don't own a digital player.) That being said, Sony now says it is stealing if you rip a CD that you bought to play in an iPod for your own use - you should pay for a digital copy as well as the CD copy. All earlier decisions said it was OK to make a back up copy for yourself for your listening - you aren't going to be playing them both at the same time. This is the same Sony that pissed people off a year or 2 ago by putting copyguards on their CDs that acted as viruses. They just make me want to boycott them completely.

They've identified a new dinosaur in Utah: a giant duck-billed vegetarian they are calling Gryposaurus monumentensis.

In pain? Bring on the chili peppers. Research shows that capsaicin, the chemical in chili peppers, may be able to block pain receptors without interfering with other nerves or causing numbness.

Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys is going to be a BBC online radio play in November. The voice cast will include Lenny Henry (who did the amazing audio book version) but not by himself this time.

Alzheimer's Disease may be Type 3 Diabetes - Science Daily has an article on the research that may lead to treatment possibilities.

CNN calls James Burgett a hero for diverting computer components from landfills, hiring recovering addicts to help restore them, installing Linux to make them workable, and giving them to schools and non-profits around the globe. Now, after successful inspections in the past, he has been written up and may need to change the way he does business or throw away most of what he has. What kind of sense does that make? Details can be found here.

Monday, October 1, 2007

Today is the 49th anniversary of NASA, and October 4th is the 50th anniversary of Sputnik, so there are a lot of articles this week covering mankind's 50 years in space. Yahoo has a fascinating article that interviews one of the people who worked on Sputnik. CNet also has a picture gallery, a timeline, and an article. Computerworld has an article that links computer developments back to Sputnik."Beep beepboop boophello there.Sputnik sails giggling through the skies.Red flags, red faces,jump in the race asthe space age begins with a surprise."-- Leslie Fish, "Surprise"

Dogs (and one cat) in Star Wars costumes. Funny but wrong.Patrick Stewart is disappointed that he has never been asked to guest star on Doctor Who (he's a fan). If just saying he's interested isn't enough to get him an invite, I'm sure he can put in a good word with David Tennant while they're acting together in Hamlet next year. I hope they give him a big part (recurring?).

The writers strike could come as early as November 1st. This could make for a really short season of TV and a strange mix of movies.